XtraTime Web Desk: East Bengal footballer Pintu Mahato has written to the club’s erstwhile investors Quess demanding his salary for the month of April and May. Also joining Pintu is Abhishek Ambekar and Rakshit Dagar. The Kolkata giants have parted ways with Quess on May 31. But Quess is yet to clear the dues of the footballers for the months of April and May.
In a report in The Telegraph, both Ambekar and Mahata,have also sent a notice to Quess requesting to pay their pay salaries else they would have the right to terminate the contract and claim compensation from the club. Goalkeeper Dagar though has his contract with the club ended with the completion of 2019-20 season.
As per FIFA, beginning date June 1, 2018, if a club unlawfully fails to pay a player two monthly salaries on the due dates, he/ she is deemed to have the just cause to terminate his or her contract. If a player is not paid on a monthly basis, the pro-rata value corresponding to two months’ salary shall also be considered.
Besides, the player in such a case does not need to take the dispute to any arbitration body or disciplinary commission. The football association he/ she belongs to must announce without condition that the player is a free agent with the right to terminate his/ her contract and join other clubs. The club that unlawfully fails to pay the player has to be punished correspondingly by the football association it belongs to.
Quess East Bengal FC’s “unilateral decision” to apply force majeure clause in the wake of Covid-19 and terminate the contracts of the footballers and the support staff, has been heavily criticized.
It is learnt that the Bangalore based company has said that the players have full rights to approach “any concerned dispute resolution body of AIFF/Fifa/CAS” or jurisdictional courts of India.